Louise has been an academic librarian for 20+ years. She is interested in environmental sciences literature; space planning and assessment; active learning; and undergraduate libraries. She received a BA in English from the University of Washington, an MA in English literature from the University of Chicago, and returned to the UW for her master's degree in librarianship.

Lauryl is a second year doctoral student in the archaeology program at the University of Washington. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Hawaii. Her current research is focused on archaeobotany in Oceania, particularly the development of agriculture in Island Southeast Asia and the initial colonization of Pacific Islands during the Holocene.

Katherine Snider is completing her doctoral studies at the University of Washington, Seattle, where she also received her Master's in French Studies and where she is Lead TA of the French department. Her research focuses on French medieval literature and cultural approaches to the environment, non-humans and the supernatural. She received her Bachelor's in French and Creative Writing from Knox College.

Kurt Kung is an Electrical Engineering Ph.D candidate at UW. Currently he works in Professor Jerry Pollack’s laboratory under the department of Bioengineering. Kurt’s current focus is on energy harvesting from interfacial water.

Lindsay Church, Jackson School of International Studies-Middle East. Lindsay is a first year graduate student at the Jackson School where she focuses on national security and counter-terrorism. Lindsay received her Associate’s degree from the Defense Language Institute in Persian-Farsi course and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in Islamic Studies and Near Eastern Language and Civilization. She is a veteran of the United States Navy where she proudly served for four years as a Persian linguist.

Andrew Davis is a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student at the University of Washington. He graduated with his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Idaho in 2012. Andrew is now a research assistant in the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center working on wave energy conversion dynamics and control.

Wendy is pursuing the concurrent degrees of PhD in Nursing Science and Master of Arts in Bioethics and Humanities here at University of Washington. As a PhD candidate, her dissertation research is focused on the experiences of military research participants. She is also interested in health disparities from a social justice perspective, which prompted her research into the topic of her presentation for the Scholars’ Studio. Wendy completed her BSN at Boston College and MSN at Duke University.

Neal received a BA in Southern Studies and Economics from the University of Mississippi. Inspired from a semester in Scotland, he spent his 2013 summer backpacking through remote Scottish islands while researching the socio-economic impacts of wave and tidal energy. While in the U.K., Neal interviewed experts on the emerging marine renewable industry with a particular focus on wave and tidal energy. As a Master’s candidate at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, he plans to seek the linkages between the emerging renewables industry, the ocean environment, and the larger public.

Lauren O’Laughlin is a doctoral student in the Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington. Lauren works at the intersections of transgender studies, feminist theory and critical animal studies. Lauren is currently looking at the cultural formation of the “toxic” intersex fish, informed by Lauren’s simultaneous commitments to gender justice and involvement in animal advocacy work.

Osazonamen Igbinosun received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Rochester and her Master of Science degree from the University of Washington. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Her research focuses on the extraction of indigenous resources on terrestrial bodies in support of manned space missions. Osazonamen is a National Science Foundation Fellow and recently completed an internship at the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA) working on carbon dioxide removal for the International Space Station. Osazonamen is also a reservist in the U.S. Navy. While on active duty, she was a C-130T pilot.